Manufacture of sewed boots and shoes



(No Model.)

G. W. WILLEY.

MANUFACTURE OF SEWED BOOTS AND SHOES. NO. 406,379. Patented July 2, 1889.

N. PETERS. Pnclolrlhcgnphur, Wllhinglun. D. C.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE IV. \VILLEY, OF ATI-IOL, MASSACHUSETTS.

MANUFACTURE OF SEWED BOOTS AND SHOES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 406,379, dated July 2, 1889.

Application filed January 30, 1889. Serial No. 298,063. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE IV. ILLEY, of Athol, in the county of IVorcester, State of Massachusetts, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Manufacture of Sewed Boots and Shoes, of which the following is a specification.

The object of my invention is to produce a sewed boot or shoe having what I term a stay-welt, which is secured to the upperinshoe from side to side and extends from the toe back toward the heel as far as desired,

. serving both as a welt and as a stay-piece that is to say, the exterior portion, or portion adjoining the edges of the piece, serves precisely the same purpose as and is in fact a welt, while the interior portion, or that which is bounded by the welt portion or strip, serves as a stay to prevent both the upper and the welt from spreading and to hold them in place and shape during the manufacture of the shoe and, indeed, after its completion, and when it isworn and in use. By myinvention I get rid of the large number of tacks and nails and hard seams which usually are put into the inner sole, and I obtain a sewed boot or shoe which has a smooth inner sole, and is comfortable, flexible, and elastic. The stay-welt holds the shoe in form during the operation of sewing the inseam, and it strengthens and preserves the shape of the finished shoe. It moreover saves the labor of filling in the bottom,which has to be done in making the ordinary welted shoe.

To enable others skilled in the art to understand and use my invention, I will now proceed to describe more particularly the manner in which the same is or may be carried into effect.

To facilitate the description, I have in the accompanying drawings illustrated in Figure 1 a lasted shoe in that stage of the operation when the upper has been lasted to the last. Fig. 2 is a similar view at that stage when the stay-welt has been attached to the upper. In Fig. 3,which is a cross-sectional view, I have illustrated the shoe at that stage of the operl tion when the upper and stay-welt, after havingbeen removed from the last and sewed together, are replaced on the last with the inner I sole in proper position.

In carrying out my invention I proceed as follows: I first last the upper, right side out, to the last without an inner sole, and in doing this I prefer to use for the purpose a drawcord or some similar appliance by which the edges of the upper are drawn over and down upon the bottom of the last, as described, for example, in Reissue Letters Patent to W. 0.

Cross, No. 10,642, of September 1, 1885. In

doing this work I prefer, in order to facilitate the operation of lasting the shank of the upper, to employ what I term a shank-filling, I

(identified by the reference-letter a in Fig. 1.)

This shank-filling is a piece of leather skived to a feather-edge on all sides with full thickness along the greater part of its longitudinal center. It is tacked to the shank of the lastin the position shown in Fig. 1, holes in the iron bottom of the last being provided for the passage of these tacks into the body of the last. The shank of the upper is lasted to this shank-filling with tacks. The other parts of the P1 e lasted by means of the draw I ous ways. For example, they can be secured 5 together by lasting-tacks, as represented in Fig. 2, which are driven through the stay-welt and the edges of the upper beneath the same and have their points clinched on the iron bottom of the last; or they may be fastened loo together by the use of staples or cement or other means suitable for the purpose. These tacks are driven around the entire edge of the upper as far as the stay-welt extends.

In this condition the shoe is This is done by placing it upon Shoes are usually made either half-Welter or whole-welted, or with welt from heel to heel. In the present illustration the staywelt is supposed to be from heel to heel.

The next step is to take the work from the last and to stitch the stay-welt and upper together. This sewing operation is performed by the use of any suitable machine, the line of inseam being outside of the line of tacks. The shoe at this stage of the operation is shown in Fig. 2. O is the stay-welt. c is the row of tacks by which it is secured to the upper, and f is the inseam.

After the inseam f is sewed, the inner sole, for the first time, is applied to the upper, being put into the shoe through the opening left in the upper for the insertion of the wearers foot, the bottom of the inner sole first having been covered with cement. The upper, thus tacked and sewed to the stay-welt, and now containing the inner sole, is replaced on the last, and then I drive tacks of proper length around the heel-seat through the upper and inner sole, and also through the stay-welt, (if, as is the supposed case in the present instance, the shoe be whole-welted,) and I also drive in other places on each side of the shoe a fewsay two or three-tacks through the staywelt, upper, and inner sole. These tacks are simply to assist in holding the inner sole in place, and should be so driven as not to appear on the inner sole in a position to be felt by the foot of the wearer. The shoe in this condition is represented in Fig. A is the iron-bottomed last. 13 is the upper. Ois the stay-welt. D is the inner sole. 6 are the lasting-tacks, and f'is the inseam. After the shoe has reached this condition, it provided with an outer sole, which is sewed through and through to the stay-welt only, as indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 3, where asis the outer sole and 'y is the stitching uniting it to the stay-welt, and it is then completed in the way usually practiced in the manufacture of welted shoes of to-day.

Ilaving described my improvement and the manner in which the same is or may be carried into effect, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is as follows:

1. The (lescribed process of making sewed boots or shoes, consisting in first lasting the upper directly to the last, then attaching the stay-welt to the upper and sewing the two together, then inserting the inner sole and seouring it in place, and securing or sewing the outer sole to the stay-welt only, substantially as and for the purposes hereinbefore set forth.

2. The method of making welted boots and shoes, which consists in first lasting the upper directly to the last, then applying and securing the stay-welt to the upper while on the last, and subsequently removing the upper and stay-welt from the last and securing .the outer sole to the stay-welt, substantially as and for the purposes hereinbefore set forth.

The described method of lasting the up per, consisting in lasting the shank of the up per by means of lasting-tacks to a shank-filling formed and applied to the last, substantially as described, and lasting the remaining portions of the upper to the last (without the inner sole) byv means of draw cords or strings, substantially as and for the purposes hereinbefore set forth.

a. In the operation of lasting the upper to the last without an inner sole, the method of lasting the shank of the upper, which consists in first applying to the last a shank-filling ot' the character described, and then lasting the shank of the upper to said shank-filling by means of lasting-tacks, substantially as hereinbefore set forth.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 26th day of January, 1889.

GEORGE W. \VILLEY.

lVitnesses:

EDGAR V. WILSON, Join: A. CARTER. 

